Wenger defends gambling on injured skipper

CESC FABREGAS will find out today if he faces another three weeks out with a hamstring injury but Arsene Wenger has defended his decision to rush the midfielder back to action against Aston Villa yesterday.

Fabregas changed the game at the Emirates with two goals as a second-half substitute but was unable to complete the match when he pulled up injured again after scoring Arsenal’s second goal.

Now Wenger admits Arsenal are nervously awaiting the outcome of a scan that will decide whether his captain is available for the rest of the Christmas fixture schedule, starting with a match at Portsmouth on Wednesday.

He said: “We don’t know if it’s a recurrence of the pull or just scar tissue. We’ll know more about it (today). If it’s scar tissue it’s a few days if it’s a reoccurrence it’s three weeks.

“Was it a gamble to play him? You never know. If you can prove to me we would have won the game without him coming on the pitch then I was wrong. But we’ll never be able to prove that.

“I feel I did the right thing – and I would do it again. Sometimes you follow your instincts in a game.

“I put him on the bench and I knew before the game that if it was really needed, I would put him on.

“Had we been 1-0 up I would not have done it, but at the end of the day you do what you think will win the game.

“Aston Villa are a team which makes you nervy because you can be dominant and lose the game.

“You could think ‘we were dominant and did not take advantage of it, so let’s be cautious’ – or you gamble a bit try to push it further and score. That is what I did.”

Wenger’s gamble brought his team three valuable points in the title race and moved Arsenal to within four points of leaders Chelsea with a game in hand. But it also leaves him with a problem in midfield because Denilson was also substituted with a back problem during the game and Alex Song is due to go to the African Cup of Nations in January.

The Frenchman is already said to be looking for a striker to cover for long-term injury victim Robin van Persie and may now need to spend again to strengthen his midfield.

“I’ve said we will keep our eyes open for a striker and if a good opportunity turns up we will do it. But at the moment I haven’t got any. I will have to look maybe as well at midfielders and how big the damage is. If we lose Denilson and Fabregas we will be short there.”

Villa, who face a home match against Liverpool tomorrow, know they must recover quickly from a defeat at the Emirates which looked unlikely until Fabregas changed the course of the match, and manager Martin O’Neill was quick to knock back suggestions his team have blown a chance to finish in the top four.

“You can draw all sorts of conclusions from just one game, and we have to look at the bigger picture,” he insisted.

“We do not have much time to reflect on it, just have to get on with it as we have a major game coming up in 48 hours time.

“You can get carried away with things, and I cannot prevent people from reading into it what they want to. But don’t forget we have beaten Manchester United and Liverpool away from home, and that is where we are.

“We are up there in the league because we deserve to be and it is up to us now to see if we can maintain the form which put us there in the first place.”